


Petals on Silk

by scholarlydragon



Category: Lore Olympus (Webcomic)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Self-Doubt, Sexy Times
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-10
Updated: 2020-01-10
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:55:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22191400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scholarlydragon/pseuds/scholarlydragon
Summary: Hades has doubts. Persephone has a rebuttal.
Relationships: Hades/Persephone (Lore Olympus)
Comments: 15
Kudos: 222





	Petals on Silk

**Author's Note:**

> With thanks and appreciation for Jessy, Alulah, and Diana. Your comments, suggestions, and unwavering excitement made this story what it is.

I can’t hold in a chuckle as I come back into the bedroom, pausing in the doorway to appreciate the scene. The disheveled silk sheets on the bed and its occupant would be a lovely enough sight. The sound of a soft snore would be enough to make me smile. But what sends a twist of delight through me and catches my breath in my throat is the petals.

Hundreds, perhaps thousands, scattered everywhere as though a garden had exploded. Littered on every surface from dresser to nightstand to floor, but centered around the bed where Persephone is curled, asleep, the toes of one bare foot peeking out from under the blankets.

I had thought she’d made a mess of the guest room after the Panathenea…

Padding quietly into my bedroom, I sink down onto the edge of the bed next to her, setting down the mugs of coffee and tea I’m carrying on the nightstand. A small drift of petals serves as an impromptu coaster. As the mattress shifts under me, she moves as well, rolling onto her back enough for the blanket to slip off her shoulder to just cover the swell of her breasts.

I am enraptured by tracing the line of the blanket with my eyes, knowing full well what lies beneath, when the soft sound of her laughter snares my attention. My gaze snaps up to her face. Persephone is awake and watching me with a soft, tender smile. My breath hitches. She has looked at me with sweet affection before, so many times. But now… Beneath the affection is something deeper. We have shared ourselves with each other and the look in her eyes leads to a bloom of hope in my chest that she liked it. 

“Hi.” Her husky voice sends a shiver of recalled ecstasy up my spine. I have heard that voice cry out in passion and I cannot forget it.

I tuck an errant lock of hair behind her ear and my fingers, greedy for more contact, turn the motion into a caress of her cheek. “Hello there, sweetness. How did you sleep?”

She smiles and arches like a cat under the blanket. “Extremely well. Someone wore me out last night.”

I don’t need a mirror to tell me that I am blushing hard. I can practically feel the heat rising from my face. I rub the back of my neck with one hand, suddenly shy. For all of my experience, I still have trouble having conversations about intimate things. Despite rumors, I’ve been nowhere near as prolific in sexual exploits as my brothers, and I have never had any hint of a relationship beyond the superficial. It still baffles me a bit to think that any being could want me for anything other than convenience or a warm presence-

The touch of a small hand on my knee breaks my train of thought and I look back over at Persephone. She is gazing at me, her eyes warm and soft, a knowing look in them. It occurs to me that she already knows me far better than anyone else.

“Where did you go?” There is affectionate laughter in her tone and she lifts the corner of the blanket, inviting me back into her warm cocoon. I accept gladly, eager to feel her body next to mine again, if only to revel in the closeness.

“Only a bit of wool-gathering,” I murmur, shedding my boxers and settling under the blankets, wrapping my arms around her. Persephone cuddles into my chest, tucking her head under my chin. A sweet-sharp pain pierces me and I close my eyes. Echoes of the same thoughts trail through my mind. I trust that she cares more for me than simply as a warm body. I have never doubted her affectionate regard. But can this last? How long before she realizes that she could have so much more than me?

“Hades?” A shiver curls through me like a wave following the brush of her lips against my sternum.

“What is it, Kore?”

“You went away again.”

She leans back in my arms, only enough to look up and meet my eyes. The sweet affection in her face is tinged with worry, her eyebrows drawn down into the tiny furrow forming between them. "Please talk to me, Hades. What's bothering you?" She pauses and bites her lip. “Is… Is it me?”

Shame and guilt twist like a knife in my gut as I blurt out, “Fates! No, sweetness! It’s not you.” That my own baggage could have put that worry in her mind…

“What is it?” Her words and voice are earnest. “I mean, you don’t _have_ to tell me. But, I’d like to help. If I can.”

I reach up to smooth her worry-lines with one finger, another sweet pain pulsing in my chest. So few would have bothered to offer. Minthe… if she had even noticed I was troubled, she would have ignored it. Or scorned me for being weak. I don’t deserve this tiny goddess.

"Kore, I…" My throat closes slightly and I swallow. There's nothing for it except brutal honesty. "I'm afraid."

"Afraid?" The worry is stronger in her voice. "Of what?"

Anxiety crowds me and I have to fight the urge to hide from her. Even if I’m right and this won’t last, even if I truly _don’t_ deserve her, the least I can do in return for her gentle concern is actually answer.

“I’m afraid to ruin this,” I whisper haltingly. “You are one of the best things that’s ever happened to me, even just in terms of friendship. I-I couldn’t bear it if I lost that.”

Though the worry remains on her face, she smiles at me teasingly. “I have no intention of going anywhere.” She cups a hand over my cheek and kisses me pertly on the end of my nose. “You’re one of the best things that’s ever happened to me as well, Hades. Possibly _the_ best. I couldn’t bear losing you either, as my friend or anything else.”

I swallow hard, wanting so badly to trust in myself, to lay to rest these fears coiling my gut. It’s hard. Fates, it’s hard.

A gleam in her eye tells me that I’m in trouble a second before the firm pressure of her hand on my chest pushes me onto my back. I flop backward with a soft grunt and stare up at Persephone with wide eyes as she rises above me and straddles my hips. The intense look in her eyes is just as arresting, just as all encompassing, as the feeling of her softness against me. The intimate core of her rests unselfconsciously against my groin and, despite everything else, I respond to her, beginning to harden. A small, wicked smile curves her lips and my mouth runs dry.

“Hades,” she murmurs, her hands splayed against my chest, “I want you to listen to me very, _very_ carefully.”

Oh, Fates.

She’s using _that_ tone. The one she pulls out so rarely that I find myself treasuring it every time it appears. The one that says ‘I am in charge here and you _will_ listen to me’. The one that makes me weak in the knees. I find myself grateful that I am already lying down.

“I’m listening,” I whisper hoarsely. I've known for a long time that I have a bit of a kink for authority. I never really expected it to come up with her, but Fates… with Persephone, it's more than 'a bit'. I want to drown in that confident, determined look in her eyes.

Her fingers map my scars, the tender touches making me shiver. Her gaze is fixed on her fingers as they trace over my chest. “I am not like them. I will not think less of you for having doubts and fears. I am not using you for my own interests. I don’t care that you’re rich or that you’re a king. I am with you because I want to be with you and that will not change.”

Her fingers slide up my sternum, then throat, her gaze following. She watches as her small fingers map the tendons in my neck with the same attentive interest she showed my scars, her touches lifting lightly as my throat bobs on a hard swallow. 

As her fingers continue upward, cradling my jaw, her eyes lift to mine and she speaks with conviction. “If you cannot trust yourself, mighty king, then you will trust me.” Her magenta gaze bores into me. I am caught, snared in her. She is spectacular. “Understood?”

"Understood." My voice is a hoarse rasp. Even if my emotions were not affected by her unconditional support, her attitude is firing need through my body like lightning. I am a king, powerful even among gods, but I would fall to my knees at her feet.

"When you find yourself afraid and doubtful," she murmurs, her thumbs stroking my cheekbones, "I want you to remember this moment. Right here and now, in this bed and naked together, surrounded by petals." She reaches down and a swipe of her hand collects petals from the sheets. "Do you see this?"

I nod, my heart pounding.

She lets the handful fall to my chest like a drift of rain. "From the first moment I saw you, you have done this to me. I cannot control my reactions to you, Hades. You called my version of springtime savage and unpredictable. That is nothing compared to what you make me feel." Her lips curve in a secret, knowing smile and her hips begin to move. I hiss in a breath as wet, silken softness begins to slide over my half-hard member. Persephone purrs, her fingers once more skating over my chest, "Every reaction I've ever had to you has felt as savage and unpredictable as I ever made the springtime, and I _like_ it."

My hands come up to hold her hips, encouraging her movement as I arch and moan. My half-hard shaft is rapidly approaching full hardness and the bliss coursing through me is indescribable. I groan, "Fates, sweetness, don't stop. That feels so good."

"Oh?" she croons softly, "I did have more plans for you. But perhaps you would just be content with this."

"Plans?"

Persephone laughs and lifts herself up, positioning my now full erection beneath her, and sinks down with a low moan, sheathing my length entirely. I cry out hoarsely as the pleasure rippling through me surges exponentially.

"I told you I can't control my reaction to you, Hades." Her full weight, as small as it is, rests on my hips. She doesn't move, doesn't shift, only braces her palms on my chest and gazes at me with pleasure glazed eyes. "You _inspire_ me," she whispers, and begins to move.

Liquidly rolling motions of her hips shift us together, silken friction trailing tongues of fire through us both. She arches, her head falling back on a cry of pleasure, and I follow suit. My spine bows upward against the bed and my fingers press her hips, paled blue indenting flushed pink.

Her fingers skate down my chest and belly, draw furtively close to where we are joined, and slip up her body. She touches herself with the same passion and care with which she touched me and I am enraptured at the sight of this goddess in pleasure. Soft touches slide up belly, into cleavage. She cups her breasts in each hand, fingers teasing at taut nipples, and Persephone cries out softly.

I feel so attuned to her, it's as though her fingers touch me, as though bright arcs of pleasure connect every nerve in our bodies.

Her hands slip sensuously up her neck, into her hair, the shoulder length waves spilling free as she lifts them before letting them fall. "You make me feel so good, Hades," she croons, arched over me, displayed so alluringly. "You always have. Good about myself and what I can do. But this? What makes you think I can give this up?"

I have no answer for her. Every bit of my attention is caught by the sight of her riding me, by the bliss coursing through my body. Where I had been still beneath her, my hips now rise and fall, meeting her rhythm. Our bodies shift together and apart, only to draw together again, in an erotic dance.

Persephone gazes down at me with a gleam in her eye. She stills completely and I bite back a cry of frustration as the delicious friction ceases.

"I asked you a question, Hades," she purrs, a teasing lilt overlaid on that commanding tone. Fierce need sears me. Does she know how much I'm wrapped around her finger? Her hands come down to brace on my chest once more. "What precisely makes you-" her inner muscles squeeze me tight and I cry out "-think that I can give you up?"

Goaded beyond endurance and unable to endure remaining still any longer, I buck, bowing up and seizing her. Persephone lets out a shriek of surprise as I pull her tightly to me and turn to bear her down into the pillows.

With a quivering growl, I thrust firmly into her, relishing her throaty moan. "Allow me to answer with another question, Kore," I rumble, giving her another deep thrust.

Persephone's legs fall open and she hooks her heels behind my thighs, almost as though she could pull me deeper. "A question with a question?" she gasps, panting. "How scoundrel of you."

I laugh softly. "But, of course." I bend down to trail kisses against her temple and Persephone moans, arching her neck to encourage me. My voice is a low burr as I whisper to her, "You keep asking what I think. I want to know what _you know._ _Can_ you live without this?" I punctuate the question with a sharp thrust, hilting deep, and she squeals.

"Fates, no! I need you too much!" She clings to me with all four limbs, bucking with fierce need, and turns her head, lips blindly seeking a kiss. Chuckling, I held back from meeting her lips, the coy tease at odds with the deep thrust of my hips against hers.

"You need me, hmm?" I am, perhaps, being mean, but I can't quite care too much. Not when her cries are so pleasingly sweet. She arches and moans, drunk on pleasure. On us. "Just how much is 'too much', Kore? If I'm to adequately meet your need, well, it must be quantified."

She rasps a hoarse cry and seizes my head in her small hands. Her eyes blaze with need and consuming passion. "I need you so much that I'm going to burst if you don't kiss me and make me come for you. Right. _Now._ "

I growl and lunge, hilting hard and capturing her mouth in one motion. Persephone squeals into the kiss and her hands fly from my face to clutch into my hair. Another thrust and she is crying out, the sound captured by my desperate kisses. Another thrust and her answering rhythm falters, quivers, then she is coming hard around me, her inner muscles rippling and coaxing me to follow her into bliss.

I cannot resist.

With my own rasping cry, I bury myself hard into her, my climax ripping free. I thicken inside her, hot pulse after hot pulse drenching her quivering channel.

Persephone arches and moans, her contractions seeming to redouble as I come with her.

Existence dissolves into hot, pulsating darkness.

Some time later, perhaps minutes, perhaps an hour, the feeling of her lips on my cheek brings me back. I've collapsed onto her a bit, face buried into her neck. Mumbling the beginnings of an apology, I start to lift myself -I know I must be too heavy for her- but Persephone catches me back against her.

"Stay, please. You're not heavy."

I want to protest, but I don't have the energy. Especially with the rasp in her voice sparking memory of the pleasure just past. She sounds like perfect hedonism.

Carefully settling back down, I kiss her tenderly. "I hope I answered your question."

She laughs. "Not at all, you scoundrel. I never got a straight answer out of you." Persephone cups my cheek in one hand, sweet affection in her gaze. "But here's another point where I want you to trust me even if you can't trust yourself. I _can't_ do without you, Hades." Her lips brush over mine in a soft, trembling kiss. "I could never give you up."

I close my eyes as my throat chokes with emotion. "I'm afraid of fucking this up, Kore."

"Hades, I'm scared, too. I'm scared to mess this up, too. But I'm more scared to not try. So," she murmurs with a soft smile, eyes shining, "what do you say to being scared and doing the best we can, together?"

I can only nod, my own eyes glistening, and Persephone kisses me with the utmost tenderness.

She's right. I know she is. What we have deserves exploration and the chance to reach its full potential. I'm under no illusions as to whether I will have more moments of fear and doubt before I manage to shake them, if I ever do.

But she's right. All I need to do is remember this moment, this perfect blend of warmth and contentment with the aftermath of pleasure pulsing between us, her hands on my chest, and her soft kisses on my lips and I will remember that, scared or not, worried or not, I am alone no longer.


End file.
